The movie opens at the New Jersey State Police Academy in the autumn of 2008. Paul Blart (Kevin James), a single father, tries out to be a cop. He does surprisingly well on the obstacle course despite his size, but passes out due to hypoglycemia, and fails the course.He lives with his mother and daughter, who tries to find him a girlfriend on a dating website, as his wife had previously left him, and he had been feeling lonely ever since. He tries to make ends meet as a security officer at West Orange Pavilion Mall. He takes the job very seriously, but receives no respect from the patrons. The next day, Blart is introduced to a new trainee named Veck Sims. Blart takes him on a tour of the mall, teaching him the basics. While patrolling the mall, Blart sees – and falls for – a kiosk owner, Amy. After a few attempts to muster up courage, Blart tries to talk to Amy, but awkwardly asks for hair products instead. Upon their second “meeting”, Blart offers to give Amy a ride to her car on his Segway, and they agree to meet later in a bar where the mall staff are regular patrons. Unfortunately, Blart accidentally gets drunk, and humiliates himself in front of everybody present. Thinking he has ruined his chances with Amy, Blart returns home in low spirits. Later, Blart’s co-worker offers him his daughter’s phone so Blart could call Amy.

On Black Friday, a group of robbers disguised as Santa’s helpers “seize the mall” while Blart is inside the arcade playing Rock Band. While in the arcade, a foreign teen named Pahud calls the cell phone looking for the co-worker’s daughter. Pahud believes Blart is her lover but he explains that he is only borrowing the phone and gives the boy positive advice (basically to just relax about this girl). Pahud begins to admire Blart and they become quick friends. The robbers chase most of the shoppers and staff outside. However, some of the mall staff, including Amy, are taken hostage inside the mall’s bank. Veck reveals himself to be the ringleader, and intends to steal thirty million dollars from the mall by obtaining the codes to the mall’s credit card machines.

The West Orange Police, led by Sgt. Howard, surround the mall, but are unsure of the actual conditions inside. Meanwhile, Blart realizes that the mall has been taken over, and he makes contact with Sgt. Howard. However, the moment he finds out Amy is among the hostages, Blart resolves to take the matter in his own hands. He begins incapacitating the robbers one-by-one, and recording the stolen credit card codes. Outside, SWAT Commander Kent arrives to take control over the operation, and he ultimately dismisses Blart’s actions; Also he has known Blart as Kent has been cruel to him since in high school. He shows that he is much more willing than Sgt. Howard to raid the mall, regardless of the hostages’ safety. While Blart is busy fighting the robbers, his daughter, Maya, arrives at the mall to deliver his dinner, but she is quickly taken hostage by Veck. She then meets Amy, and tells her how Blart really feels about her.

Finally, Blart manages to incapacitate all of Veck’s henchmen, but Veck discovers Maya’s identity, and he tries to force Blart to give him the codes in exchange for her life. Instead, Blart distracts Veck with a mannequin, and tries to free the hostages, but fails. He is forced to give Veck the codes, and Veck escapes the mall with Amy and Maya in tow. Blart follows them, with Commander Kent finally on his side. Blart finds out that Veck is headed to a nearby airport, and ambushes him there, successfully restraining him. However, Commander Kent then attempts to kill Blart and points a gun at his head, and reveals that he was working with Veck the entire time. Fortunately, Sgt. Howard had followed them, and quickly arrests Commander Kent after Blart’s boss, Chief Brooks shoots the gun out of Kent’s hand. Blart and Amy are re-united and Blart admits his feelings for her and she kisses him. Howard offers to let Blart become a full-fledged police officer. Blart steadfastly refuses, saying that his place is helping people in his mall. During the end credits, bonus scenes show Blart and Amy getting married in the mall with all of their co-workers and friends there, including Pahud.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop Movie Review - Cast

• Kevin James as Paul Blart
• Keir O’Donnell as Veck Sims
• Jayma Mays as Amy
• Raini Rodriguez as Maya Blart
• Shirley Knight as Paul’s Mom
• Stephen Rannazzisi as Stuart
• Peter Gerety as Chief Brooks
• Bobby Cannavale as Commander Kent
• Adam Ferrara as Sergeant Howard
• Adhir Kalyan as Pahud
• Erick Avari as Vijay
• Jamal Mixon as Leon
• Allen Covert as Jerky Security Guy
• Bas Rutten as Drill Instructor
• Jason Ellis as Prancer
• Mike Escamilla as Blitzen
• Mike Vallely as Rudolph

Paul Blart: Mall Cop Movie Review - Production

The film began shooting in late February 2008 in Boston. Principal shooting took place at the Burlington Mall in Burlington, Massachusetts after being denied a permit from Willowbrook Mall (Wayne, New Jersey). From late February until mid-April, the mall and its stores were decorated with Christmas decorations, and there was a large prop ball-pit in the main foyer of the mall near the Sears branch, and a Santa’s Village at the opposite end near the Macy’s branch in the same place that the mall usually puts its own Santa’s Village. Signs were placed throughout the mall explaining that this was for filming a movie, in order not to confuse the guests. Interior filming took place mostly at night. The South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Massachusetts was the location of subsequent shooting.

The titular cop is played by Kevin James with Keir O’Donnell as his opponent. Ugly Betty recurring star Jayma Mays plays James’ love interest.The film is directed by Steve Carr.

The Haunting in Connecticut Movie Review – cast
Virginia Madsen as Sara Campbell
Kyle Gallner as Matt Campbell
Martin Donovan as Peter Campbell
Amanda Crew as Wendy
Elias Koteas as Reverend Nicholas Popescu
Michael Glen Forrester as Demon

The Haunting in Connecticut Movie Review – Production
Directed by Peter Cornwell
Produced by Scott Niemeyer
Norm Waitt
Steve Whitney
Paul Brooks
Daniel Farrands
Phyllis Laing
Wendy Rhoads
Andrew Trapani
Written by Adam Simon
Tim Metcalfe
Distributed by Lionsgate, Gold Circle Films
Release date March 27, 2009
Country United States
Language English

During World War II, Wehrmacht Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) is severely wounded in Tunisia, and is evacuated home to Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, Major General Henning von Tresckow (Branagh) attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler by smuggling a bomb aboard the Führer’s private airplane. The bomb, however, fails to detonate and Tresckow safely retrieves it to conceal his intentions. After learning that the Gestapo has arrested Major Hans Oster, he orders General Olbricht (Nighy) to find a replacement. After recruiting von Stauffenberg into the German Resistance, Olbricht delivers von Stauffenberg to a meeting of the secret committee which has coordinated previous attempts on Hitler’s life. The members include General Ludwig Beck (Stamp), Dr. Carl Goerdeler (McNally), and Erwin von Witzleben (Schofield). The Colonel is stunned to learn that no plans exist for after Hitler’s assassination.
After a bombing raid on Berlin, he lights upon using the plan Operation Valkyrie, which involves the deployment of the Reserve Army to maintain order in the event of a national emergency. The plotters carefully redraft the plan so that they can dismantle the Nazi regime after assassinating Hitler. Realizing that only General Fromm (Wilkinson), the head of the Reserve Army, can initiateValkyrie, they offer him a position as head of the Wehrmacht in a Post-Nazi Germany and recruit him into the fold. With the rewritten plan needing to be signed off by Hitler (Bamber), von Stauffenberg visits the Führer at his Berghof estate in Bavaria. In the presence of his inner circle, Hitler praises von Stauffenberg’s heroism in North Africa and signs off on the plan without fully examining the modifications.
At Goerdeler’s insistence, von Stauffenberg is ordered to assassinate both Hitler and SS head Himmler at the bunker Wolf’s Lair. At a final briefing, Colonel Mertz von Quirnheim (Berkel) instructs the committee members in how to use pencil detonators. von Stauffenberg also reaches out to General Fellgiebel (Izzard), who controls all communications at Wolf’s Lair, to cut off communications after the bomb blast. On July 15, 1944, von Stauffenberg attends a strategy meeting at Wolf’s Lair with the bomb in his briefcase, but with Himmler not present at the meeting, von Stauffenberg does not get the go-ahead from the committee leaders until the meeting is over. Meanwhile, the Reserve Army is mobilized by Olbricht, unbeknownst to Fromm, to stand by. With no action taken, von Stauffenberg safely extracts himself and the bomb from the bunker, and the Reserve Army is ordered to stand down, believing that the mobilization was training. Enraged, von Stauffenberg goes to the committee to protest the indecisiveness and blames the bungling of Goerdeler, who has been selected to be chancellor after the coup. When Goerdeler demands that von Stauffenberg be relieved, Beck informs him that the SS is searching for him and implores him to leave the country immediately.
On July 20, 1944, von Stauffenberg and his adjutant Lieutenant Haeften (Parker) return to the Wolf’s Lair. To von Stauffenberg’s dismay, he discovers that the conference is being held in an open-window summer barrack, whereas the plotters had intended to detonate the bomb within the walls of the bunker for maximum damage. While his adjuntant waits with a getaway car, von Stauffenberg leaves the briefcase at the meeting. With the bomb armed, von Stauffenberg leaves the barrack for the getaway car. When the bomb explodes, von Stauffenberg is certain that Hitler is dead and flees the Wolf’s Lair. Before shutting down communications, Fellgiebel calls Mertz about the explosion but cannot clearly convey whether or not the Führer is dead.
As von Stauffenberg flies back to Berlin, Olbricht refuses to mobilize the Reserve Army until he knows without a doubt that Hitler is dead. Behind Olbricht’s back, Mertz forges his signature and issues the orders anyway. With Operation Valkyrie underway, von Stauffenberg and his fellow plotters order the arrest of Nazi party leaders and SS officers and begin to take control of Berlin’s government quarter, which will allow them to command the entire Reich. Rumors reach Berlin that Hitler survived the blast, but von Stauffenberg dismisses them as SS propaganda. Meanwhile, Fromm learns from Field Marshal Keitel that Hitler is still alive. The General refuses to join the plotters, resulting in his arrest. When Hitler reaches the Reserve Army by telephone, the SS officers are released and the plotters in turn are besieged inside the Bendlerblock. The headquarters staff flees, but the ringleaders are arrested. Most are eventually tried and executed, while some commit suicide. Von Stauffenberg is executed by a firing squad.

Valkyrie Movie Review -Directed by
Bryan Singer

Valkyrie Movie Review - Produced by
Christopher McQuarrie
Bryan Singer
Gilbert Adler
Chris Lee
Written by Christopher McQuarrie
Nathan Alexander
Starring Tom Cruise
Bill Nighy
Eddie Izzard
Terence Stamp
Tom Wilkinson
Carice van Houten
Kenneth Branagh

Valkyrie Movie Review - Music by
John Ottman
Cinematography Newton Thomas Sigel

Valkyrie Movie Review - Editing by

John Ottman

Valkyrie Movie Review - Distributed by

USA/Canada
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
United Artists
Worldwide
20th Century Fox

Valkyrie Movie Review - Release date

December 25, 2008 (US)
January 22, 2009 (GER)
January 23, 2009 (UK)

Valkyrie Movie Review - Running time

120 min.

Valkyrie Movie Review - Country

United States

Valkyrie Movie Review - Language

English

Valkyrie Movie Review - Budget

$75 million (official) to $90 million (reported)